FEEDING. 151 



even enlarged tlieir premises^ so that when the dark day 

 had passed away, and the sun of a brighter sky fell upon 

 them, they found themselves in possession of greater 

 powers for active and successful work. So the skilful 

 bee-keeper is not inattentive to the machinery and mill- 

 hands of his factories when they are not working "full 

 time." Idleness in a bee-hive is the mother of mischief. 

 When weather forbids bees leaving their hives, it is a 

 stroke of good policy to give them something to do in- 

 doors. A few pounds of syrup, wisely administered, keeps 

 • up the hum of health and prosperity, promotes breeding, 

 and prevents collapse and disaster. Often when feeding 

 is not absolutely necessary, when there is plenty of honey 

 in a hive, a little sugar given to it in dull weather, is of 

 great service in keeping up its temperature, and in pro- 

 moting the laying and hatching of eggs. 



Loaf or refined sugar boiled in pure water, at the rate of 

 one pound of sugar to one English pint of water, is excel- 

 lent food for bees. No artificial food is so good for them 

 as this. Indeed this food is better for them than heather- 

 honey : the mortality of bees fed on heather - honey is 

 greater in winter than when fed on pure sugar-and-water, 

 mixed and boiled as described above. Mower-honey, as 

 it is termed in Scotland, or clover-honey, is the best and 

 healthiest food for bees; and, strange as it may appear, 10 

 lb. or 11 lb. of this honey lasts or feeds a hive as long as 

 15 lb. of honey gathered on the moors. Brown sugar is 

 too relaxing, and should never be given to bees as winter 

 food. On the score of cheapness it is sometimes used in 

 summer, and with safety. White soft sugar, now sold at 

 4|^d. per lb., is nearly as good as loaf-sugar for feeding 

 bees. 



Some old-fashioned gentlemen, doubtless fond of a glass 



